Punjab: AAP faces heat over police action against farmers – ‘Arvind Kejriwal once provided water, Wi-Fi to protestors’

Punjab: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government faced heat after protesting farmer leaders were detained and evicted in Punjab – the state where the Arvind Kejriwal-led party is in power under chief minister Bhagwant Mann.

Several farmer leaders, including Sarwan Singh Pandher and Jagjit Singh Dallewal, were detained in Mohali while returning from a meeting with a central delegation. Punjab Police evicted farmers from Shambhu and Khanauri protest sites, which had been blocked for over a year.

BJP accuses AAP of "sabotage"

The action evoked reactions from AAP's political rivals. In a statement, BJP leader and Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu strongly condemned the detention of farmer leaders. He alleged the AAP government in Punjab was trying to "sabotage" talks between the Centre and farmers.

The protesting farmers – led by Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha – have been camping at the Shambhu (Shambhu-Ambala) and Khanauri (Sangrur-Jind) border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13 last year when security forces thwarted their march to Delhi. They have been protesting in support of various demands including a legal guarantee to MSP for crops.

In Chandigarh, talks between farmer leaders and a central delegation to discuss various farmer demands remained inconclusive.

“Arvind Kejriwal once provided water, electricity, and WiFi to farmers protesting at the Delhi border, but now the AAP government in Punjab is using bulldozers to dismantle their tents and campsites,” said Amit Malviya, the in-charge of BJP's National Information and Technology Department.

“The sponsors of the previous farmer agitation—the self-proclaimed guardians of farmer organisations, foreign-funded NGOs (including those backed by George Soros), Canada-based Punjabi pop singers, and international celebrity activists who jump from one cause to another—are conspicuously silent,” he said.

Malviya alleged in another post the AAP government in Punjab was forcibly evicting protesting farmers in the middle of the night. “The chickens have come home to roost for Arvind Kejriwal,” he said.

'Bhagwant Mann working as BJP puppet'

Many other opposition leaders lashed out at the AAP government for police action against farmers. Congress MP and former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi dubbed "detention" of farmer leaders as an "attack" on the farming sector, calling the police action unfortunate.

Senior Congress leader and leader of the opposition (LoP) in the Punjab Assembly, Partap Singh Bajwa strongly condemned the police action, terming the detention of Dallewal and Pandher a "cowardly act" of the Aam Aadmi Party-led Punjab government.

Bajwa said it has never happened in Punjab's history that the government "arrested" the leaders after calling them on the pretext of a meeting.

Bajwa said there was not even a doubt left that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is working as a "puppet" of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union Government.

“CM Bhagwant Mann has stooped to such a low level to throttle the voice of the farmers. He has backstabbed the entire farming community of Punjab. Punjabis will never forget this and they will never forgive him for this shameful act,” Bajwa said.

AAP justifies police action

Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema justified the eviction of farmers, saying industries and businesses have been hit hard due to the prolonged closure of two highways -- "the lifelines of the state".

"The AAP is committed to youths and generating employment. They will get jobs if the trade and industry functions smoothly," Cheema said.

Justifying the police's eviction action, Cheema said, "Trade has been suffering. After considering all situations, this action has been taken. We have been telling farmer leaders that their fight was with the Centre. 'You fight with the Centre. We are with you. You are causing heavy loss to Punjab by closing the border'."

Cheema said the Punjab government remains committed to supporting farmers in their legitimate demands and emphasised that AAP ministers are actively working to present farmers' concerns before the central government.

"We urge farmer leaders to focus their struggle against the central government while allowing Punjab to progress. We stand with the farmers today, as we always have, and will continue to fight alongside them," said Cheema.

(With inputs from PTI)